Skyquake87's Review: E-Hobby Detritus

Name : DetritusAllegiance: JunkionFunction: Mercenary

Bio:Leaving his homeworld of Junkion* behind, Detritus has become a mercenary. Rumor has it that his appearance on the battlefield turns the tide of victory to the side that employs him... when in reality, Detritus simply bides his time until he is positive which side is likely to win anyway, then offers to join that side. Like all Junkions, Detritus is capable of repairing heavy damage to himself with whatever scrap metal he can get a hold of. Detritus's ultimate goal is to use his earnings to build his own army and create his own Junkion empire.

*Junk, surely?

Is it me, or do all Transformers' Mercenary characters exhibit similar turncoat tendencies on the battlefield? Doesn't sound like a very sound investment and surely not good for future business to renege on such transactions in the heat of the moment. I feel obliged to re-write Detritus bio, turn him into something much more sporting and interesting, rather than the same old 'yeah, he's this really deadly guy, but you can't trust him' cack that the dribbling fanoys whom write the bios turn out. The Junkions by nature are traders, and whilst its not terribly imaginative to have one operate as a mercenary, there's a potentially interesting and unexplored backstory there. Lately, Detritus has cobbled together a new body and come into possession of some vehicular drones and operates under the name Roadmaster as part of the Powercore Combiners.

What we are concerned with today though, is this lovely wee beastie from the far away year of 2004 and the latest in a series of E-Hobby exclusives. This one is of particular note, being the first of these E-Hobby figures that doesn't borrow its colour scheme from the Diaclone era. Instead, Detrittus works a flash new sandy colour palette on the old Diaclone Car Robot Jeep mould that was used for the Autobot Hound – whom was also reissued at the same time.

I absolutely love the original Transformers toys, with their detailing and what have you and the E-Hobby baubles I also thought were lovely. Not of all them though. I was only interested in the ones that gave us new characters from familiar looking moulds. Stuff like the all chrome versions of Jazz and Bluestreak were just of no interest to me. So I snapped up the intriguing looking Detritus. Intriguing because he comes in a purple box which got my pulse racing as I thought he might be a Decepticon. I was a bit disappointed he turned out to be a mercenary, but liked that he was a Junkion and came with some cute decals to add to the 'spiky' look of his race (I have not applied these). Him being a Jeep, rather than a motorbike, was also quite refreshing to see for this race of garbage dwellers.

Robot Mode: The robot mode is a cute boxy little block of a thing. He's got massive built up shoes, a huge and slightly awesome looking Jeep chest and these tiny little arms. There's wheels poking out at the back and he has this great little cuboid bonce with angry red eyes (which, as we all know, is the universal sign of a wrong 'un in Transformerdom) and a fetching beard. By today's standards, he has too many proportion problems to pass muster and he's not without his problems. His thalidomide arms can't reach past his chest which makes him wielding his rather large rifle (compensating much?) look ridiculous. He does look a bit cluttered and awkward too, with him clearly being folded out of a Jeep and especially with his rather large weapons. There's just something inherently charming about him though. Must be the beard. 8/10

Alternate Mode: Detritus eschews much of the chrome that made Hound look excellent. I do like that he goes for a sort of rust ridden wreck look that you might find at a run down garage out on a desert motorway. His wing mirrors, machine gun and winch are done in a sort of rust brown, and the Jeep itself is this patch- work of sun bleached colours. The detailing on the Jeep is superb – there's proper seats, a dashboard (no steering wheel, oddly), a petrol tank/ water can and spare tyre. The rear bed has a nice panelled look and the wheels are nice and chunky. I especially like the splash of tan around the hubs. These small changes really help set Detritus apart and give him a proper sense of self. 8/10

Transformation Design: A fairly straight forward transformation – the front end and rear end rotate through 90 degrees to get you the robot mode – belies some neat touches. The seats neatly tuck away into the heels and the arms drop down from under the wheel arches. An early example of Auto-Morphing can be seen when the bonnet rotates to form the chest and the robot head pops up. The only bit of kibble is to be found with the front wheels swinging to the back on a set of axles. Stuff like the can and spare tyre you, uh, just take off and leave to one side. 7/10

Durability: The original Transformers are quite fragile, but Detritus feels solid and durable enough. The windscreen is the obvious major weak point, but there's also the slightly fragile feeling head pop up me do. Plus there's keeping track of all his accessories, some of which, like the petrol/ water can are easy to loose. 6/10

Articulation: Movement in the arms is your lot and this is heavily restricted by the bonnet chest and their piddly length. So not great, even by 1980s standards. 4/10

Fun: Detritus is a great little toy. His alt mode is fantastic, packed to the hilt with details and his robot mode is a nice blocky bit of cute. He makes a nice diversion from the norm by beefing up the role of the Junkions in the original toyline, which previously stood at er, one. 8/10

Price/Value: As a limited release Collector figure, he wasn't cheap when first launched, fetching around the £40 - £50 mark. As the years have gone by, prices on even the more common E-Hobby releases have crept up, so if you were looking for one today, it may make your eyes water. 3/10

Overall: Detritus is an unassuming toy. As a high-end collector's trinket, he carries a certain cache, but isn't quite as exotic as your Deep Covers or your Crosscuts. He looks like a plain old Hound recolour, but he actually carries off being a separate character. He lacks the same sort of quality sparkle as Hound and that sandy colour has come out a rather more unfortunate shade of peach, other than that, he's a good solid figure and worth your attention if you're feeling flush. 6/10